This move, or rather, gambling is bold enough, especially when it is being tried out in a Hindi-speaking state, where caste and communal identities are likely to have a major impact on voting patterns. For a party that is looking to make an impact in UP, the Congress will hope that the idea of women’s empowerment will attract new voters.
However, for a change to take place, a few factors will be important – women constitute half of the population, but can they behave like a separate votebank? And how effective are they in hashing?
Female candidates in the 2019 general election:
The 2019 election is something from which the Congress can take comfort. In the elections in which the Narendra Modi-led BJP again trounced the opposition, a record number of 78 women emerged Lok Sabha A total of 726 women candidates contested the elections from across the country. Congress fielded the maximum number of 54 women followed by BJP 53. It is worth mentioning that there was a state of Uttar Pradesh, which together with West Bengal, sent the highest number of women MPs.
Eleven women MPs were elected from these two states, mostly belonging to BJP and TMC.
However, a closer look at the figures also reveals that candidates not belonging to major political parties did the same. Of the 726 women candidates who contested in the 2019 general election, 575 lost their deposits. The Congress in UP is certainly not in a position like the TMC in West Bengal or the BJP in other states.
UP Experience:
Even in the 2017 UP assembly elections, there was an increase in the number of women elected, with forty women becoming MLAs as compared to 36 in 2012. The maximum number of winners were 34 from BJP, two each from BSP and Congress and one each from SP. Apna Dal (Sonelal). However, five years ago, only 4% of Congress candidates were women.
Long term benefits:
Eminent political expert Nilanjan Sarkar is of the view that the move may not pay dividends in the short run but has the potential to strengthen the party in the long run.
The government said the move is a “long-term investment”. He said in the short term it is the more competitive parties that lead the way. She said that although there has been a perception that women are not an isolated vote bank, but statistics show that women can actually make a big impact. For example, the data shows that the percentage of women voters for the TMC is quite high and this has an impact, he said.
Center Party:
The Congress has, historically, tried to avoid swinging to the right or the left and claimed to be a party of the Centre. Naturally, in the UP elections, where she has to counter the discourses of parties ranging from BJP, BSP, SP to Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM, women empowerment is an issue she champions without attracting any section of voters. can.
However, another ground reality in patriarchal states like Uttar Pradesh is that women are often dependent on their families when it comes to making political choices.
TMC event:
Led by a strong female leader Mamata BanerjeeTrinamool Congress has been one of those parties which has been successful not only in generating support among women but also in giving them representation. The party has run several women centric schemes. Many observers attribute Banerjee’s return to power to the strong support she received among women.
However, the number of women MLAs in the state assembly is not much. There are 40 women MLAs in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly. According to the report of Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), Chhattisgarh has the highest percentage of women. The report said that Chhattisgarh and Haryana topped with 14.44 per cent representation of women in their respective state legislatures, while West Bengal came second with 13.99 per cent.
Repeated success of BJP in Gujarat, especially when Narendra Modi The Chief Minister was, among other factors, attributed to strong support among women voters.
TMC is getting the support of women
Name Tamilar Katchi:
While the Congress may be one of the first national parties to announce 40% representation for women, Tamil Nadu has its home organization in Tamilar Katchi that is fielding 50% women candidates. However, in a state ruled by DMK and AIADMK, there is not much to write about the electoral performance of its candidates. Its candidates, however, finished third in several seats.
Leadership matters:
Interestingly, the representation of women may be low in the country assemblies and parliament, but many of them are leading strong political organisations. Congress, BSP, TMC, PDP and Apna Dal(S) are all successful political parties which have a woman.
Women’s Reservation Bill:
In 2010, the Rajya Sabha passed the Constitution (One Hundred and Eighth Amendment) Bill, which sought to reserve one-third of all seats in the Lok Sabha and state legislatures for women. However, it was strongly opposed by several parties and the bill could never be passed by the Lok Sabha.
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